Over the past several decades, numerous communications technologies have become commonplace. This ranges from the Internet, which has provided personalized web sites, weblogs, and the like, to electronic mail, which has migrated from conventional Internet clients such as personal computers over to cellular phones, personal digital assistants, and dedicated wireless electronic mail clients. Other technologies such as facsimiles, voice mail, Short Messaging Service (“SMS”) and the like are also commonplace.
In general, each new medium provides a separate communication channel with its own underlying technology. Tools have emerged to assist non-technical users with each such technology. For example, electronic mail clients have become increasingly sophisticated in their ability to provide services on top of basic messaging, such as organization into folders, archiving, scheduling, forwarding, and filtering. As another example, a number of client-based web design tools are available, and in some cases, a domain hosting service will provide online tools for creation of basic websites.
However, there is no integrated tool to assist consumers in managing multiple communications technologies. There remains a need for intuitive electronic presence management tools suitable for general use.